Clean: an original story
by twilliams1797
Summary: what happens if there there is conflict between modern technology and the living?


Clean

By TimWilliams

2012

Advert in the NewCityTimes:

_**New listings available, **_

_**Prime location, **_

_**104 subterranian floors of suberbly designed living space.**_

_**Close to business, parks, theater,**_

_**many great jobs available in the area,**_

_**1, 2 and 3 bedroom flats available for viewing, All amenities**_

_**Viewscreen wall full robotic household, you never have to lift **_

_**a finger to clean or cook or do laundry, The Robot servants **_

_**are there to do it all for you, now with our patented 'intelligent **_

_**systems' which can learn your routines and adapt to your needs.**_

_**Do you like your laundry folded in a certain way?, **_

_**Your new LaundyBot (tm) will learn how you like it and you **_

_**will never have to search for a clean ironed shirt in the **_

_**morning ever again.**_

_**Entertaining? **_

_**Our highly programmable and adaptable ChefBot (tm) **_

_**will learn your favorites and make them on order, anytime! **_

_**Don't want to clean up after the party? **_

_**Don't worry, CleanBot will silently clean every surface in the **_

_**flat, put everything away, and have the place spotless silently **_

_**before you have slept an hour. **_

_**Your every need is met, so call today for a viewing!**_

The CleanBot awoke as power surged through the activation circuits.

The ManageBot had been turned on and was reciving it's progrramminmg, as the residents were keyed in.

Clothes were placed in the drawers and the LaundryBot took inventory of it's duties.

The ChefBot had it's recipe files updated and sent out an order for food delivery and CleanBot watched silently as the humans puttered around the flat .

Night came and the LaundryBot gathered the discarded clothes and cleaned them silently and placed them away as required. Laundry Bot never moved from it's central location in the service core of the flat, All the closets and dressers backed up on the service core and made for easy access.

On the opposite side of the central area, the ChefBot was preparing food and storing it the requred refrigeration, much the same as the LaundryBot had done.

The ManageBot sat in the center of the Service core overseeing the budget and the orders for the day and week to come.

The CleanBot went forth at it's assigned hour, and made sure every surface top to bottom was spotless. CleanBot was a mobile cylinder which could sprout as many arms as needed for any task.

Each arm had a specialzed end, to clean, wax, polish, scrub or disinfect any type of surface perfectly. It was designed with this flat in mind, matched to the surfaces perfectly. It's eyes were on stalks which could rise as high as the ceiling, or peer under the lowest bit of furniture. It had lightning quick grabbers that could get into any space to chase down a stray dust particle, with vacuum fingers and ultraviolet thumbs.

The residents slept and every square inch of the flat was cleaned, put in order, catalogued and organized awaiting the next day's service.

CleanBot entered it's charging station as the waking alarms went off and the smell of coffee was rising from the breakfast nook.

The sun rose and crossed the sky, the flat was silent as the ChefBot went about it's business for the evening dinner.

The door opened and the residents tracked in street debris and filth, shedding clothes as they went.

They entered the sleepin quarters and as they were changing clothes, CleanBot was sent out to pick up.

A quick pass and the entryway was pristine and the clothes and droppings were put in their place.

While the residents sat down to eat, the Laundry Bot did it's job and everything was in order before dessert.

CleanBot backed into it's charging bay and opened the disposal chute and evacuated the gathered filth.

The small collection of dust and stray hairs fell into the collection area a hundred stories below and were burned up in the matter conversion furnaces.

Day by day, this was the way things were, Cook, Clean up, Laundry, Repeat.

Several months went by and the Bots learned the habits and patterns of the residents, and adjusted accordingly.

A series of communications and the residents went away for a week.

CleanBot went around the flat twice a day to make sure nothing was out of place.

Mid afternoon the door burst open and the residents returned absolutely seething with filth.

The CleanBot's eye watched as they came in, dumping off packages and clothes and a large container of some sort. The Bots eye fixed on this container trying to ascertain it's contents before flicking away to catalogue the necessary work at hand.

As the Residents wearily accepted the ChefBot's offerings, the CleanBots eye snapped back to the container as it rattled and shook as if something was inside attempting to escape.

The smaller Resident moved itself and went to the container and knelt down at one end.

The audio pickups 'heard'

"Oooo there my sweetie Mister Kitty, do oo wanna come out and play?"

She opend the latched grid and pulled out a scruffy, large cat, who had apparently seen better days.

If one were to tally up the lives used up by this feline, it would come at least eight and a half.

Mister Kitty, who ignored her nattering, did not tthink of himself as a pet, but rather as the acknowledged ruler of all he surveyed, Now after the incarceration and being treated like a piece of luggage, he wanted to eat, drink and make a deposit , in that order.

He had lived with an old man for his whole life and this young female smelled like the offspring of his former servant, so he decided to keep her.

The Cat, which is how he thought of himself, that is, translated in his own language as Lord And Master, King of all, made his own routine in this strange sterile place.

His servant had provided a sandbox for his needs, but as his former home had access to the outdoors he did not bother to use it, preferring the round warm thing that moved, because it made his whiskers twitch to see the thing hum and extend arms to pick up his offering.

Another pastime of The Cat was to lie in the sun, however the light of the sun in this place was not real and as warm as at his previous kingdom. Since it is fruitless to explain technology to a feline, suffice it to say that the sunlight shining on the floor was a projection from somewere far away, and that these rooms were buried deep within a hundred story subterranian structure of a reverse skyscraper.

The Cat had a place to eat, and did so daily, followed closely by the CleanBot, as food and dribbles were the norm. Since the arrival of The Cat, the CleanBot had been on alert almost continiously, it's various eyes online at all times, watching for uncleanliness.

The CleanBot had been on a daily search, removing loose fur, dropped fleas and vermin, and the almost hourly hairball removal.

Cat had been challenged , however. He had beeen working hard to make this place his own, marking his territory, warning off interlopers, and every time he had gone back to check on his boundaries, they were gone. No sight, no smell designating his authority over this place.

His opponent for mastery of this place was the round box on wheels, with all the arms and eyes, and The Cat lay in his spot in the cold sun, eyes half closed, watching his enemy for weakness.

CleanBot had become well aware of the actions and and habits of the unregistered resident.

It saw the creature rise from it's chosen spot and move around the flat, marking places on the walls and furniture.

Since the registered residents were out on their daily assignments, CleanBot sensed the need to move about following the unregistered occupant.

The creature finished it's round and jumped up to where it could survey the rooms.

The CleanBot stopped in it's round of sterilization and the eyes met the gaze of the intruder.

Thr feline blinked once and yawned, and closed it's eyes.

The CleanBot watched for a time as the creature slept.

The whiskers twitched and the beast awoke and stretched

and then began to scratch.

A cloud of fur and grit.

As the beast attended to it's grooming, the CleanBot slowly, stealthily moved, several of it's arms

moved up and were poised to clean.

Suddenly the arms all snapped at once and the cat yowled in protest as it was taken forcibly from it's perch.

The beast was held aloft while several other of the CleanBot's arms whisked up the leavings and sterilized the counter.

The cat struggled and hissed as it tried to get away from the binding arms holding it, and after several minutes of this, slowly became still.

CleanBot moved towards the docking station and lowered it's burden.

An access door opened and the object was dropped in the space.

The door closed and Clean Bot moved into the charging bay.

The eyes of the machine pulsed once.

The authorized residents came home and went about their daily affairs.

It was three days before the smaller resident noticed the missing creature.

Inquiries were made of the ManageBot, but that machine had no knowledge of the situation.

After a while the questions were abandoned to the acceptance that one would never know.

And life went on.

Cook, Clean, Laundry, Work.

The Residents went on with their daily life

and the CleanBot watched, and waited.

Copyright TimWilliams 2012


End file.
